Sports Ultrasound: Applications Beyond the Musculoskeletal System.

Background: Traditionally, ultrasound has been used to evaluate musculoskeletal injuries in athletes; however, ultrasound applications extend well beyond musculoskeletal conditions, many of which are pertinent to athletes.

Evidence Acquisition: Articles were identified in PubMed using the search terms ultrasound, echocardiogram, preparticipation physical examination, glycogen, focused assessment with sonography of trauma, optic nerve, and vocal cord dysfunction. No date restrictions were placed on the literature search.

Focused physician-performed echocardiography in sports medicine: a potential screening tool for detecting aortic root dilatation in athletes.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether sports medicine physicians can obtain accurate measurements of the aortic root in young athletes.

Methods: Twenty male collegiate athletes, aged 18 to 21 years, were prospectively enrolled. Focused echocardiography was performed by a board-certified sports medicine physician and a medical student, followed by comprehensive echocardiography within 2 weeks by a cardiac sonographer.

Focused transthoracic echocardiography by sports medicine physicians: measurements relevant to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether sports medicine physicians can use portable echocardiography to obtain measurements pertinent to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Methods: Thirty male collegiate athletes, aged 18 to 21 years, were prospectively enrolled. Focused portable echocardiography was performed by a board-certified sports medicine physician and a resident physician, followed by comprehensive echocardiography within 2 weeks by a registered diagnostic cardiac sonographer.

Ultrasound in sports medicine: relevance of emerging techniques to clinical care of athletes.

The applications of ultrasound in managing the clinical care of athletes have been expanding over the past decade. This review provides an analysis of the research that has been published regarding the use of ultrasound in athletes and focuses on how these emerging techniques can impact the clinical management of athletes by sports medicine physicians. Electronic database literature searches were performed using the subject terms 'ultrasound' and 'athletes' from the years 2003 to 2012.